It's time to talk about my favorite band.
The Mechanisms.
I think I've mentioned them before on here but it's time to talk about them, because they broke up, and I have a lot of emotions. And because I at this point believe that I will never NOT have a Mechs song stuck in my head ever again.
I found the Mechanisms through Spotify. I had been making a playlist for my D&D campaign about Ragnarok, and so had been listening to a lot of Norse and norse-adjacent music, when a track called "Thor" came up as suggested on my daily whatever-they-call-it. It was not anything like I had imagined it would be. For starters, Odin was a woman? I remember, I was in the car, driving home from... somewhere. I don't remember. The grocery store, I think. And I legit like. my jaw dropped. I found the rest of the album, The Bifrost Incident, and listened in ever increasing awe.
Within the next 24 hours I had listened to all of their albums, and the Bifrost Incident at least three times, I think. I was hooked, bad. And yet, because of the nature of their stories (The blood, the violence, the horror...) I was a bit hesitant to show my friends. That didn't last long, and now you really can't get me to shut up about it... Honestly I have a lot of sad regrets about the fact that I never got to see them in person. I lived in Oxford for two years without ever hearing about them, and then the summer I move back across an ocean I find them? Really? Anyway...
This blog tho has become a space I enquire stream-of-consciousness into WHY I like the things I like, though, so let's have a go.
So first off, their music is just flat out GOOD. It's well done, well arranged, well performed, well written. Many of the Mechanisms songs are based on tunes that you already know (but maybe can't place). Folk songs that are deep in the social memory of the western world. Some of them I am still trying to give their proper name! And while it would be easy to see this kind of tune-borrowing as "lifting" or "stealing" or even "lazy", I think it's not. If a tune isn't broken, don't fix it. Their music is all stuck in my head because it's got a strong, good tune, that everyone already knows WORKS. And their use of and re-writing of these classic tunes is exactly what they are doing with their stories! It's a beautiful picture really. A mix-mash of so many references and things. Who ever thought about singing a song about Herakles, turned out in pinstripes and working for a mob boss, to the tune of "Rocky Road to Dublin"? That's brilliant. And the original tunes they come up with are just as good.
But no what really gets me about the Mechs is that they did their homework. They did not just hear a myth once and then decide they can muck it up. There are a few artists I know who do this (Heather Dale comes to mind), and I respect it and like it in a way. But the Mechanisms KNOW the original stories well enough to really really play in that space. I think I could write a commentary on almost all of their songs, pointing out the references made by every line. Especially the Bifrost Incident. And it's only when you KNOW this stuff inside and out that when you change something it stands out as so intentional and creative as to be really enjoyed. The Mechs didn't mess up or mis-remember these myths, they re-wrote them on purpose. And it's so. Good. The Mechanisms are also 100% of the reason I started reading Lovecraft, which has in turn started another project of mine, the longest piece of fiction to which I've ever turned my hand, about pirates in 1720 and Cthulhu.
I thought that this post would be longer than it is, but I've kind of run out of words. All that's left would be for me to gush about each individual story and song. Like? Fairy tales in a bloody war in space? A kidnapped princess made into a clone army? Yes please. Greek myths set in a terrible planet-city where the Olympians are the terrible oligarchs? Yeas PLEASE. A western about King Arthur, Guinniverre, and Lancelot, featuring a trans Mordred, all set on a doomed spacestation in a decaying orbit around a dying sun? YES PLEASE. Ragnarok + Lovecraft + Space Trains? GIVE IT TO ME. All told by a bunch of immortal steampunk space pirates?? Where has this been all my life??!
I've you've got the stomach for it, please check out The Mechanisms on bandcamp. And if you do, please message me. I will talk to you. Extensively. About. Every. Single. Song.
https://themechanisms.bandcamp.com/
Thanks for reading
R
Praise God from whom all blessing flow, praise him all creatures here below, praise him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
